Stage Stores Inc. said Tuesday that it expects first-quarter results to come in below those of a year ago, hindered by a same-store sales decline.
The clothing retailer anticipates same-store sales will drop 6 percent to 9 percent in the first quarter and said the shift of Easter to April from March will hurt this month's results.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
Stage Stores expects anywhere from a quarterly loss of 4 cents per share to a profit of 3 cents per share. It posted earnings of 6 cents per share in the prior-year period.
It expects revenue at between $337 million to $347 million, down from the previous year's $354 million.
For the year, the retailer forecasts same-store sales will fall 5 percent to 8 percent. The second half of fiscal 2009 is expected to benefit from Hurricane Ike's anniversary, the departure of rival Goody's from more than 90 markets and easier comparisons.
Stage Stores predicts full-year net income of 35 cents to 65 cents per share on revenue in a range of $1.44 billion to $1.49 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates generally exclude one-time items, forecast full-year profit of 57 cents per share on sales of $1.48 billion.
Stage Stores also reported on Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit dropped 20 percent, but the results still beat Wall Street's expectations.